Tasha

Tasha was married on the coast with her little dog in the wedding party.

 Her five piece steampunk inspired ensemble was made of silk, dyed, distressed, and over dyed laces and tulle. Her silk dupioni over skirt was bustled up in three layers to be held out by the poufy ruffled petticoat. She wore a two-toned matching silk  corset with silver buckles and grommets at the hips and shoulders. The corset and skirt was piped in matching silk. Underneath it all, she was wearing my Fluffie Rufflie bloomers in dyed dove grey lace and cotton! We worked very hard to get this right because those perfect greens and greys were proving very hard to find in the right fabrics. The Peridot green came in from Thai Silks the wrong color (which may have been my fault -be careful with those color numbers when ordering!) but they graciously took it back and sent the right stuff. I made the groom a matching waistcoat and then over her dress, Tasha wore a dark green kinsale cloak from the Folkwear line that I made with silk/rayon velvet.

 She looked like she had stepped into some kind of time travel vortex when it was all put together. A beautiful bride, a beautiful wedding, a beautiful project!

Pattern Whores Of The World, Unite!

This recent Fluffie Rufflie Pattern Pre-Sale was hugely successful and Ive got reams of these patterns being printed up again! My next step is to actually go and do more homework to package and print them up in a more professional way. I really should say that I would like them to look a certain way, and they do not look that way yet. But they are perfect for what you need them to do at this point in time. And I must put my nose to the grindstone and  learn that whole PDF file pattern thing. I don't want to mess with it for larger garments, but for smaller things like hats, vests, corsets.............that learning curve I can handle for now.

I will admit that I had qualms at first about selling my patterns because I'm kind of a control freak about my work and these Fluffie Rufflies were my babies. But the fact is that unless you have garments made in some kind of quantity and at a price-point that is "affordable", you are going to have to make the same garment over and over again as long as the market wants it - if you are DIY like me. You will burn out. And I want people to be sewing and making things. So this makes me feel good about selling patterns. I WANT to continue to be making things that I like to make, and I WANT you all to do the same thing! Pattern Whores of the world Unite!

This is Laurie Lulu Martin wearing a pair of the Fluffie Rufflie Pantaloons that she made from my pattern. You can make them as long or as short as you prefer. You can make them in any fabrics that work for you. You can wear them to dance in or to travel in, as Laurie here is doing. They are romantic and comfortable and feminine. Adorable and functional. Win!

As soon as Ive got my pre-sale pattern orders all packed up and mailed out, I'll be listing both available styles on Etsy. See you there!!

FLUFFIE RUFFLIE PATTERN PRE-SALE!!!!

FLUFFIE RUFFLIE PATTERN PRE-SALE!!!!
It is getting to be time to focus on getting more Fluffie Rufflie patterns printed up! Ive had requests for them, and I have a Want List. Consider this a Pre-Sale - and you get your patterns first before I start selling them on Etsy! As soon as I have enough names and email addresses, I'll invoice you via Paypal and get these printed up again. Please send me your name, email address and which style you prefer: A) the Fluffie Rufflie Pantaloons (wide leg) or B) the Form fitting Fluffie Rufflie Dance Pants.
  Send your info here: kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

They are both $20.00 plus flat rate postage. I send them to you very old school - in a plain envelope - nothing fancy. These are a very basic pattern - no pretty, fancy illustrations or pictures, and you have to understand how to use a pattern without a lot of explanations and details (although I have a link to a tutorial and Ive written out instructions, yardage, etc.) They are not hard to make, just require patience and a lot of fabric! The Dance Pant style requires cotton lycra or spandex/stretchy fabric for the upper body. The Pantaloon should be made out of wovens.

Thanks! X

This is Dance Tribe in South Africa! Tarah Van Wyk made the Fluffie Rufflie pants for their costumes using my pattern!! She made their belts and bras, Her mother made their Gawahzee coats!!
This style is the form-fitting Fluffie Rufflie Dance Pant - stretchy fabric upper body!

Capes and Circle Skirts

This last week, I finished up a little project that came my way. Chris March made a bunch of super hero type costumes for a giveaway promotion. He gave me the capes and little super heroine skirts to sew up and he took care of the rest.

Its a simple project, but it was fun. I cut all the capes out freehand and I mostly used selvages for the ties, For the skirts, I used the bottom flounce pattern of my Fluffie Rufflie Pantaloons as a base. I used my Sampants waistband and  with a little tweaking here and there of the measurements, they worked out perfectly!

I was sewing on sequins and spandex for the most part and my industrials were being a bit temperamental. Needles were breaking and stitches skipping. So rather than adjust my machines for every fabric, I used my home sewer for some of it and all went well in the end. Lots of capes and skirts. Some were lined. Some were trimmed. Some had rolled hems and some edges were just serged.

Simple costumes do not have to look like they were made in a factory in China. With a little knowledge of fabrics and what types of machines and needles and hemming feet work with them, its fairly easy to make something inexpensive look well made.

And, well, practice, practice, practice!

Dear Fluffie Rufflie Pantaloon Purchasers:

One day I woke up and looked here at my pages and noticed that my Fluffie Rufflie Pantaloon tutorial is missing. I dont know what happened. Its just gone. So my profuse apologies and I beg your forgiveness if you came here looking for help and there was none to be had!

What you CAN do while Im working on making a new tutorial for you is to follow most of THESE instructions for the Fluffie Rufflie Dance Pants. You wont be working with a knit upper body, so the construction for your pantaloons will be similar, but not the same.

Seam allowance for the Fluffie Rufflie Pantaloon is half an inch. You can serge (overlock) the edges, but sew it with your straight stitch. This will give your garment more durability.

Fold the upper part of the Pantaloon over to form a 2" casing for your elastic. After you have stitched down your casing (leaving about a 1.5 inch opening in the back to insert your elastic.

The rest should be basically the same - you'll just have a lot more fabric to handle and a wider pant leg to attach the flounces to.

Hope that helps for now!

Tribal Fest 2012 Recap

 Tribal Fest 12

To make a long week very short:
It was fun.
I made a new Mother Goddess belt for Lori Tawasha of Bal Anat
I saw some  KCCC  grace the stage
I sold lots.
I caught up with old friends.
I made new friends.
I saw new things.
I took some pictures
I saw some dancing.
I saw a Baby Eater Thing.
I saw a giant unicorn.
I was busy.
I got inspired.
I got sunburned.
I got dirty.
I laughed a lot.
I cant wait to do it again.

Dont Be Mad At Us Vendors: Be Mad At The Republican Party

Ive been too busy to post lately and I was too busy to celebrate being here in my new studio and little town for one whole year as of August 15th! I have to be honest. Without the support of my customers, the move would never have been possible. I had great dreams for moving my business forward , decorating my studio, and getting a car. Well, as the bottom fell out of the American Dream, I ended up just trying to ride this roller coaster out and there was no moving forward. Treading water and trying not to sink was the focus for that year. And it was very scary. And I was really, really angry. All my hard work was just sliding into the toilet.

As when all apple barrels get upturned, someone gets mad regardless of whether you overturned them apples yourself or not. And so Ive managed to be overly late on a few custom Fluffie Rufflie orders that were being placed just when the shit came down. This isn't normal behaviour and these are special times. I do state on my Etsy listings that anything and everything can and will affect your order. It states right there in plain English all my info for you, the buyer. All you have to do is read it. Its just that simple. And everyone gets their goods. My postal receipts are sure fewer than they were last year, but I do still have enough to show that Ive been busy! Sellers don't want to talk about angry customers, but everyone gets one now and then. Its a numbers game. But I am here to talk about it all. Sometimes you get one or two that just don't get it, or don't read, or don't get the email that you sent, and sometimes you, the seller got it all wrong despite how hard you tried. But the truth is, nobody could stay in business if everyone hated what you did. I personally have had a few bad experiences buying online. Just enough to make me wary of doing it. But the vendors seem to have a happy customer base, so it was probably that this was when my number was up. Like I said, Shit happens and most vendors are more than willing to try to make you happy somehow. Nobody can make everyone happy all the time.

All my pending Fluffie Rufflie orders are done now ( except for one - and its almost done - and she knows about it) and I wont be making them again like I was.  Ive never believed in that saying that the customer is always right and I never will. If it were, we wouldn't have pages and pages of rules and information and contracts for you to read  to cover our asses. Because my loves: shit happens. And while I generally bend over backwards to give the customer what he or she wants - because I want us both to be happy with the product, this year pretty much almost did me in. Its nobody's fault. Fear is everywhere. And where there is fear, there is bad behavior. I have not been exempt from the fear factor, so Ive done my best to keep positive. Its hard to do sometimes and I have had my moments, but I don't want to attract that fear into my life any more than is already there.I want to thrive.

BUT. During this whole time, I have always felt that something new or different is around the corner and I still do. I have no idea what this "something" is, but its coming. Somehow, for some reason, Ive managed to keep this roof over my head and eat. And I owe this only to anyone who has ever purchased or commissioned anything from me. And I am here for a reason. The right people are starting to find me, and things are slowly feeling better. It may be another rocky winter, but for some reason, I feel that its not going to be that bad.

I love  what I do and I'm going to keep doing it one way or another. Ive got projects that I'm working on and Ive closed out the work that isn't viable  for me any longer. Its been a year of transition and those are always difficult, but very, very beneficial if you can get out of them in one piece. I'm still alive, I'm still working, I'm still in my dream studio, and if it wasn't the year of paying off debt, or buying a car and mega yards of brocade for new draperies that I had planned on, hopefully  next year will be.I still got to make some really cool stuff! And now that all those smaller orders are not hanging over my head, I am freed up for more work - for bigger projects. For making new merchandise. For a new day.

So don't be mad at us sellers.  Be mad at the Republicans or Demons of your choosing. We didn't cause this mess. Thank you.

HAPPYBIRTHDAYTOMESALE!!!!!!

 I woke up this morning and jumped out of bed full of life and energy and a touch of narcissism. Thats right - bonafide narcissism. My favorite word of the day. Usually I putter around for a while making coffee and answering emails and being a facebook friend. But not today. I donned some makeup and curled my hair.  Matthew James (you'll know him soon enough) said that I'm going for that 50's housewife kind of thing. I think he may be right. And this isn't so bad before coffee and a big birthday (we'll just say I'm 37 and leave it at that - because I say so. Don't argue with me). In truth, I had some clients coming over - so I do like to make a good appearance, but this morning was just different.

I don't know what happened. The moon is done with being full? Jupiter and Saturn collided?  The dish ran away with the spoon?

I never celebrate my birthday. I don't enjoy my birthday. I would just as soon forget about my day of birth. I don't know why. I don't say anything to anyone.  Sometimes the day is great. Sometimes its lonely.  I love to be remembered, but I feel no need to talk about it or announce it or remind anyone about it. It usually embarrasses me to have a fuss made. So what has changed?

I just don't know.

         Hmmmmmmmmmm. Its puzzling, int it.

So what should I do for my birthday?

I'll have a 25% off sale!

For my birthday, I'm having a 25% off sale in my Etsy shop. Thats right - 25% off.  I'd go higher, but I have to eat. Thats only fair. Ive never had a sale where I marked everything off 25%. And its making me HAPPY! Patterns and custom goods will be excluded from the sale, but there is a lot of fun stuff in there!

Please enter this code at checkout: HAPPYBIRTHDAYTOME
This will automatically take 25% off of your Etsy purchase. Pretty neat, huh!

So there ya go........hope you see something that you've lusted for and cant justify right now. I wish I had more sizes, but this is what I have left after my festivals and events over the last 4 weeks. When it moves out the door, there is room to make more! (yes, Jeanette, that's your vest in the mirror - I'm finishing it up!)

 Ive got a couple sword bags that I'll put in the shop. Vintage trims and drapery velvet make a lush bag to carry your dance sword or your gym clothes in - I dragged mine through the U.K three times (before the sword ban).Maybe its just the thing you've been looking for!

 Now that my Fluffie Rufflie Dance Pant pattern tutorial is up, I'll just put the finishing touches on the FR Pantaloons, and then I can focus on finishing some custom orders and new merchandise. I had talked a lot about teaching sewing lessons at one time, but my patterns ate up my life there for a while. So keep checking in - Ive got some ideas that I will throw out there. I think you'll like what I have in mind and I know we can have fun with it!

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Sneak Preview Pattern Cover

Well, I have a ways to go before I actually can get these patterns printed up the way that I want them to look  - but Im so excited about the drawing that Katherine Summer did for me, that I just have to squeal with excitement, jump up and down, and show a sneak peek!!!!!!!!!!!

I 

Isnt it pretty? Damn, she's good!!!!!!! What talent! Im so lucky!!!!!!!!

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

P.S. 

The Fluffie Rufflie Dance Pants tutorial is up here in my "pages" section - hope it helps! XXX

Fluffie Patterns Are Now In Stock

. Tribal Fest is over and it was great fun - thank you all for coming to the Salomes' Suitcase Trunk Show! I'll write more about it later! I'll just say that we had great fun dressing everyone for the Rapture that never happened!!!!!

If you dont know yet, I want to let you all  know that I have two Fluffie Rufflie Patterns available now . There is no fancy packaging yet, but if you just cant wait (and it might be a long wait.......) I have these in stock and ready to ship. I'll have a listing for them on Etsy soon, but in the meantime, you can message me with which pattern(s) you would like, with your zip/post code and I'll invoice you, then send it to you!

Fluffie Rufflie Dance Pants (multi-sized from XS - XL) $20.00

 This is Elizabeth Mahina - and this is her Etsy Store! I love her Good Karma Wrap Cover-ups!

 Fluffie Rufflie Pantaloons (multi-sized from XS - XL) $20.00

 This is Jen Cerdena and her troupe mates!

 kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Tribal Fest Trunk Show!!!

Its that lovely Tribalie time of the year when we all head over to Sebastopol, Ca. for  Tribal Fest!
Salomes' Suitcase (the design collective that I am a part of) will be having a trunk show at the Fairlfield Inn - very close to the festivities - and right where many of us will be staying!

We will be dressing up the conference room with all of our decadent splendor!
You will be able to escape the overwhelming Tribal mayhem and try on our garments and adornments in comfort! Yes, I said comfort - not out in the open, or under a tent! (not that there is anything wrong with that!)You can hang out with us and shop - and then walk back up the road, or go party in your rooms - party central!

This Fest will be a blast! Cant wait!!!!!!

Salome's Suitcase Trunk Show
~Thursday May 19th 3pm - 10pm
~Friday May 20th 2pm - 10pm
~Saturday May 21st 2pm - 10pm

Fairfield Inn Conference Room
1101 Gravenstein Hwy. South
Sebastopol, Ca 95472

Email us if you have questions!
salomes.suitcase@gmail.com 
kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Cues And Tattoos

I just got back yesterday from the Cues and Tattoos belly dance festival up in Seattle - what a whirlwind trip!
This festival is really a great event for that part of the world! Lots of workshops and vendors, teaching and dance opportunities!

I came down with that fluie/buggie/coldie thing thats going round - about a week before I left for the festival, and it just hung on. So this threw a wrench in my energy gears and I felt like I was swimming under water the whole time. But despite that, my costuming workshop went well, I think. I hope everyone got something out of it - and of course, I sold some of my patterns and got to explain a few techniques to make your costumes fit better. I learned some things as well. Like don't be sick when you need to teach: but shit happens!

The festival started off with getting to perform in the teacher showcase with Rashani. Ive danced on and off with these ladies for 15 years, and although I don't dance or practice much, its easy to step in and dance again when we are together. I think we looked pretty good! Go take Wendy's classes - she is a lovely, well rounded dancer and has studied all around the world! And of course, Marsha is part of FatChanceBellyDance! I'm pretty lucky to have such ladies as friends!

I also spent a lot of time with my son and granddaughter Ivy while I was up there. She wasn't all that interested in the sewing machine. But its early yet.

kc.costumecouture@yahoo.com

Fluffie Rufflie Pattern Pre-Order !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Pattern Launch!!! 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,.........................3,2,1......................................

So here’s the scoop: Please Read It All even if you dont want to....................

Im having a small amount of very basic Fluffie Rufflie patterns printed up. At First. These will be the Fluffie Ruffle Dance Pants (the form fitting pants that hug the body to right above the knee) and the Fluffie Rufflie Pantaloons. I’ll have some very basic instructions – nothing in depth or pretty to look at. At First. The packaging wont be pretty, either. At First. These will be so basic that I might have to go back and print the sizes on the pattern for you. At First.

I’m doing it this way because I gave myself a deadline to get these out and I want some for the attendees of my Cues and Tattoos Costuming Workshop.  I want you to get sewing!!!

Because most printers require you to have a basic minimum to get started, I have to work up to this. I don’t want to make a thousand of these if  I cant sell a thousand , but we will have to have baby steps on that one…………….I just want you to have something to work with if you have good sewing skills and can figure out basic shapes. It isn’t a hard design to make at all, what is difficult is all the fabric required to make them  and figuring out how to make the inseams balance out on your leg. I can tell you how much yardage you need and how to put them together. But you will have to figure out all the inseam stuff on your own. You’ll see what I mean when you see the pattern. But just like regular commercial patterns, you cant make them fit everyone, so making a mock-up of the garment first is ALWAYS a good idea first no matter what! My sizing will also be more generous for the larger ladies! Yay! And its a much smaller investment than having them custom made - usually

I will be selling these at $20.00 each.  

What  I would like you to do if you are interested is to email me at kc.costumecouture@gmail.com and request which pattern(s) you would like and how many.  Make sure that I have an email address for PayPal and I will send you an invoice  for the total amount.  Let me know if you would prefer me to send USPS priority – if you have a large order, this may be more cost effective for you.   I will print out your order and paypal receipt, place it in a folder and mail these to you as soon as I get them, which will be early next week.

I'll send out a notice if I have to push this back at all.

I will be offering these to my Cues and Tattoos Workshop attendees for $15.00. And then I will have a minimal amount to sell at the festival. You are under no obligation to purchase a pattern at my workshop and if you want to copy someone's pattern for yourself, thats ok too.

Postage rates will be:

U.S.A      $2.50 ea. + .50 per each additional pattern

Canada   $2.75 ea.  + .75 per each additional pattern

Everywhere Else   $4.75 ea. + 1.25 each additional pattern

Postal fees subject to change 

By purchasing these patterns, you will be getting these into production and allowing all of those who sew a chance to wear all this rufflie goodness! These patterns are for home use only. You can make some for you or for your troupe, or your mother, or your neighbor, or your dog,  but  you cannot make these for resell on Etsy or anywhere else without my permission. 

If  some of this doesnt make sense or you have questions, please shoot me an email! I'll get back to you asap!

And I'll answer your questions anyway as they come up!

Just remember that Ive never done this before and I'm basically learning as I go - as I do with most things, so there is always room for improvement! I'll want your feedback!

XXXX

Fluffie Rufflie Pantaloons:

 Fluffie Rufflie Dance Pants:

kc.costumecouture@gmaiil.com